And now, you
are still determined to--confess your father to Cleone, I suppose?"
"Yes, I dare not speak to her otherwise, how could I, knowing myself
an--"
"Impudent impostor, sir? Quite so and fiddlesticks! Heigho! you are
so abominably high-minded and heroic, Barnabas,--it's quite
depressing. Cleone is only a human woman, who powders her nose when
it's red, and quite right too--I mean the powder of course, not the
redness. Oh! indeed she's very human, and after all, your mother was
a Beverley, and I know you are rich and--ah! there she is--on the
terrace with the Captain, and I'm sure she has seen you, Barnabas,
because she's so vastly unconscious. Observe the pose of her
head,--she has a perfect neck and shoulders, and she knows it. There!
see her kissing the Captain,--that's all for my benefit, the yellow
minx! just because I happened to call him a 'hunks,' and so he is--though
I don't know what I meant,--because he refused to change that dreadful
old service coat. There! now she's patting his cheek--the golden jade!
Now--watch her surprise when she pretends to catch sight of us!"
Hereupon, as they advanced over the smooth turf, the Duchess raised
her voice.
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